Kiara Pelissier was born in Mexico in 1976 and grew up in the United States in a multi-generational family of artists. She began working with glass in 1996 and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Cleveland Institute of Art in 2000, followed by a Master of Fine Arts from Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in 2006. She has taught at VCU School of the Arts, Penland School of Crafts, and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts.  Her work is in the collection of the Museum of American Glass in NJ and the Virginia Museum of Fine Art as well as in private collections throughout Virginia and the US. Kiara currently lives in Barcelona, Spain.